For Subscribers: Look for our Election Extra, "A look at the issues," in Sunday's electronic edition of your newspaper.
Online: For more political stories, log onto DaytonDailyNews.com, join the more than 69,000 followers who like our Ohio Politics Facebook page and follow us on Twitter at @Ohio_Politics
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pledged to rebuild the American military, pursue a “state of the art” missile defense system and protect the country’s borders during a speech at the American Legion’s National Convention in Cincinnati.
“We do not want to let anyone in our country who doesn’t support our values and who is not capable of loving our people,” Trump said.
It was one of two Ohio appearances Thursday, which also included an afternoon rally in Wilmington where he focused on jobs and trade deals.
>>> ALSO: Veterans respond to Trump's speech
“We are going to stop the foreign cheating. The era of economic surrender, which is what we have done essentially, is over. A new era of American greatness is going to begin,” Trump said in Wilmington.
The visits came a day after Trump’s Arizona speech on immigration and a visit in Mexico with President Enrique Peña Nieto, which Trump referenced in both speeches. It also followed a speech by Hillary Clinton Wednesday to the same veterans.
Trump said of his visit with the Mexican president: “We agreed in the meeting on the need to stop the illegal flow of guns, drugs, cash and people across the border and to take out the cartels.”
He said they also talked about “the importance of working to keeps jobs and wealth in our hemisphere.”
“A more prosperous Mexico means fewer illegal border crossings, and a better market for products made in the United States,” Trump said.
In Wilmington Trump repeated his pledge to build a wall along the border with Mexico but made no mention of reports that Peña Nieto explicitly said Mexico will not pay for the wall.
“Mexico is going to pay for the wall,” Trump said. “We are going to stop drugs from coming in. We have got to stop the drugs from pouring into our states. It’s poisoning our youth and others.”
Thousands of supporters in Wilmington chanted “Build That Wall” and “USA” as he delivered a 25-minute stump speech full of campaign promises, including plans to repeal and replace Obamacare, deliver a massive tax cut, create jobs and renegotiate unfair trade deals.
“No state has been hurt worse, really, by Hillary Clinton on trade policy than Ohio,” Trump said.
He said Clinton, his Democratic opponent, supported the North American Free Trade Agreement, China’s entry into the World Trade Organization and the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Clinton campaign said she opposes the TPP.
Wilmington took a gut punch in 2008 when DHL pulled out of the Wilmington Air Park, costing 8,000 jobs. The county unemployment rate climbed above 16 percent, but by July had dropped to 5.7 percent as the air park site has been redeveloped and Wilmington-based Air Transport Services Group began flying cargo for retailer Amazon.
Ann Reno, executive chair of the Clinton County Democratic Party, responded to Trump’s remarks by saying the county’s families know what it is like to weather hard times and bounce back.
“The choice in this election is clear: Trump’s reckless plans would cost millions of jobs and devastate the economy,” Reno said. “Hillary Clinton would build an economy that works for everyone — not just those at the top. Trump’s empty rhetoric and irresponsible ideas are not welcome here.”
In Cincinnati Trump spoke for about 17 minutes and said his slogan for rebuilding the military will be, “Peace through strength.”
“We will stop apologizing for America and we will start celebrating America,” Trump said.
He focused mostly on military and veterans issues and was met with frequent applause as he promised to reform the Veterans Administration, battle the Islamic State and stop Syrian refugees from coming to the United States.
Trump said Clinton supports increasing the number of Syrian refugees allowed into the U.S. and he also criticized her deletion of personal emails from a private server she used for government email when she was secretary of state.
The Clinton campaign issued a statement that “despite his occasional lip service on the trail, Trump continually has disrespected our veterans and our military for decades.”
Clinton has a detailed plan to ensure veterans have the “opportunity, care and support they earned by serving our country,” Harrell Kirstein, Clinton campaign Ohio spokesman, said in the statement. “She will continue to support the needs of all who serve and will continue to put veterans first.”
Neither candidate has ever served in the military. Trump, 70, received multiple education deferments and eventually got a medical deferment.
Although Clinton leads in most national polls, Trump has a 10-point lead over Clinton among military households, according to a recent poll from NBC News/SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll.
This support comes even though he criticized the war record of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and attacked a Gold Star family who spoke out against him during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
